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Results have been coming in all night and our live maps and charts are continuing to update, showing the progress of both races.

When we started it seemed like the Democrats were likely to lose the House and probably the Senate too. With just the final results still to come in there’s a chance they could keep both.

The latest estimate from NBC News has the Republicans winning 221 House seats compared with the Democrats’ 214, meaning they would still take control but with much less authority than the 40+ gains anticipated by some pollsters.

A margin for error is attached to that estimate as well, so what it truly means is that either party could still win.

The race for the Senate is also very much in the balance, with just four seats left to declare. Georgia’s race is set for a run-off on 6 December so we may have to wait until then for the final standings.

There has been the odd notable gain for the Republicans in certain seats, for example Jen Kiggans defeating January 6 investigator Elaine Luria in Virginia’s battleground 2nd district.

But much of the picture is muddied by the redistricting that has taken place since the 2020 election. Many of the seats listed as ‘gains’ are new districts entirely or represent geographies almost unrecognisable to ones they’ve replaced.

These gains, for both parties although benefiting the Republicans overall, don’t necessarily reflect the shifting of Americans’ political preferences but the adjustment of the American political map.

What is the House of Representatives and how are seats allocated?

Although the map above looks fairly well soaked-through in Republican red, that too can be misleading.

Each seat has a similar population to each other, but some are much smaller than others geographically. Usually that’s in city areas where there’s a denser population.

This map shows each district as the same size as each other, which can give a better sense of the balance of power across the country.

The race for the Senate

The balance of power in the Senate was always expected to be poised more delicately than the House, and with just four seats left to declare we’re not much closer to working out who will come out on top.

The Democrats made a potentially crucial gain in Pennsylvania but the Republicans managed to hold out in a tight race in Wisconsin – a state won by President Biden in 2020.

We won’t get the result from Georgia until after 6 December, because state rules dictate that if no candidate reaches 50% the top two must fight again in a run-off vote.

Given the win in Pennsylvania, the Republicans need to flip two of the three remaining Democrat seats to take control – Arizona, Nevada and Georgia. So if one party wins both of Nevada and Arizona that second Georgia vote won’t matter quite as much.

Including those seats which weren’t up for election this year, this is how the balance of the Senate will look until the 2024 election.

The six states with a split Senate delegation during the last two years was the fewest in more than a century, something which the Pew Research Center said is a “reflection of the partisan polarisation that has reshaped American politics” in recent decades.

As Pennsylvania now has two Democratic senators we could be on for a new low this year.

Why aren’t all states having elections?

What does this mean for Donald Trump?

The former president is yet to officially announce his intention to run for election again but is still the bookies’ favourite to win in 2024.

Although he is less prominent on social media these days he certainly hasn’t shied away from politics. Over the course of the campaign for these midterm elections he has issued endorsements to 174 of the 430 Republican candidates in the House, and 49 for would-be Republican Senators, Governors and Secretaries-of-State.

But initial results suggest that may have backfired. Republican House candidates backed by Mr Trump have actually performed worse than those who weren’t.

The Republican vote share in areas with a Trump-backed candidate has increased by 2.1 percentage points compared to the 2020 election.

That’s far less than the 8 percentage point increase in areas where the local Republican candidate had no such endorsement.

Those endorsements, prized weapons in Republican primaries of recent months, appear to have proven less helpful in winning over Democrats and independent voters.

The difference is most striking in Democrat-held seats, but even in Republican areas Trump-endorsed candidates have fared relatively poorly.

This analysis is based on early results from just over half of counties, so may not be representative of the final outcome but at least gives us a glimpse of how things are going.

What does this election mean for America?

After the 2020 election it was the first time since Barack Obama’s first term that both chambers of Congress and the presidency had been in Democratic hands.

It is much easier for a president or a party to enact their policies if all three are held by the same party.

If Joe Biden’s Democrats lose control of one or both chambers they will lose the ability to set the agenda on the big issues dividing the country, things like gun control, the economy, abortion, immigration, and climate change.

The president’s parties do typically lose seats at the midterms – 28 on average – although the Democrats will of course be hoping to buck that trend as George W Bush last did in 2002, a year on from 9/11.

President Biden’s approval ratings have been at a historic low however, which made that look unlikely.

The Republicans needed to gain five seats from the 2020 result to take the House, and just one for the Senate.

Credits:

Reporters – Daniel Dunford and Ben van der Merwe
Lead data engineer – Przemyslaw Pluta

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Four charged with New Year’s Eve plot to bomb multiple targets in California

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7 hours ago

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December 15, 2025

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Four charged with New Year's Eve plot to bomb multiple targets in California

Four people have been charged with plotting New Year’s Eve bomb attacks in California.

Federal authorities in the US said the four are allegedly part of an extremist group which is suspected of planning the attacks in southern California.

The plot consisted of planting explosive devices at five locations targeting two US companies at midnight on New Year’s Eve in the Los Angeles area.

The suspects were arrested last week in Lucerne Valley, a desert city east of Los Angeles.

Photos of suspects of the terror plot are shown on a screen during a press conference. Pic: AP
Image:
Photos of suspects of the terror plot are shown on a screen during a press conference. Pic: AP

They are said to be members of an offshoot of a pro-Palestinian, anti-government and anti-capitalist group dubbed the Turtle Island Liberation Front, the complaint said.

As well as the alleged plan against the two companies, the group also planned to target Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and vehicles, attorney general Pam Bondi said.

The four defendants named in the complaint are Audrey Illeene Carroll, Zachary Aaron Page, Dante Gaffield, and Tina Lai.

All four are from the Los Angeles area, according to first assistant US attorney Bill Essayli.

The alleged plot

According to a sworn statement by the complaint, Carroll showed an eight-page handwritten document to a paid confidential source in November, which described a bomb plot.

The document was titled “Operation Midnight”.

Essayli said one of the suspects created a detailed plan that “included step-by-step instructions to build IEDs (improvised explosive device)… and listed multiple targets across Orange County and Los Angeles.”

FBI assistant director in charge Akil Davis speaks at a press briefing on the incident. Pic: AP
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FBI assistant director in charge Akil Davis speaks at a press briefing on the incident. Pic: AP

Carroll and Page are then alleged to have recruited the other two defendants to help them carry out the plan which included acquiring bomb-making materials before constructing and performing test detonations.

Under the plan, the defendants would supposedly have travelled to a remote location in the Mojave Desert on the 12 December to construct and detonate their test explosive devices, the sworn statement alleges.

Evidence photos included in the court documents show a desert campsite with what investigators said were bomb-making materials strewn across plastic folding tables.

The FBI said agents intervened before the defendants could complete their work to assemble a functional explosive device.

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The shock of a shooting will cut deeply – but if anywhere can find hope in the face of despair, Providence can

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19 hours ago

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December 15, 2025

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The shock of a shooting will cut deeply - but if anywhere can find hope in the face of despair, Providence can

“Most of us live off hope” – the text of a colourful mural, painted on a wall on Hope Street, Providence.

On most days, the neighbourhood around Brown University feels like a place of quiet optimism, swimming against the negative tide.

Hope Street's mural
Image:
Hope Street’s mural

The shock of a shooting, that has claimed two lives and left eight others critically wounded, will cut deeply here.

Violence feels not just intrusive but incompatible with the spirit of a place that is governed by thought, not threat.

When the university president said “this is a day we hoped would never come”, she spoke for the whole town.

Two students were killed in the attack
Image:
Two students were killed in the attack

Providence, Rhode Island, is a place I know well. My daughter, her husband and their two little girls live there.

It is a college town with a college vibe, the compact campus priding itself on openness – architecturally, intellectually and emotionally.

They rehearse “shelter-in-place” scenarios, as every university does, but they are not experienced at living behind locked doors.

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‘Stay inside,’ mayor warns as suspect still at large

Rhode Island, the smallest state, has one of the lowest gun-death rates in America, zero mass shooting events in 2024.

Earlier this year, the state banned the sale and manufacture of assault weapons, but it didn’t include those already owned.

Even in a Democratic, liberal state like Rhode Island, they are struggling to find a solution to America’s gun problem.

People hug each other outside Brown University in Providence after the shooting. Pic: Reuters
Image:
People hug each other outside Brown University in Providence after the shooting. Pic: Reuters

The age-old constitutional right to bear arms continues to trump the most human of all rights – the right to life.

This is a community that assumes safety, not because it is naïve, but because it has grown accustomed to trust.

College Hill rises in gentle brick and ivy, its narrow streets winding past houses with verandas designed for long conversations.

They take place in hushed tones right now, but if anywhere can find its way out of despair, Providence can.

On the historic street along its east side and in the college on the corner, most people live off hope.

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US director and actor Rob Reiner and wife found dead ‘with stab wounds’ at his LA home

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19 hours ago

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December 15, 2025

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US director and actor Rob Reiner and wife found dead 'with stab wounds' at his LA home

US director and actor Rob Reiner and his wife have been found dead at their home in Los Angeles, Sky News’s US partner NBC News has reported.

A source close to Reiner told the outlet he and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, apparently died of stab wounds.

A family member is being questioned by investigators, a law enforcement official told the AP news agency.

A 78-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman were found dead inside the property, a Los Angeles Fire Department official said. Reiner turned 78 in March.

Detectives from the LAPD Robbery Homicide Division have been assigned to the case, the force said in a statement.

‘Apparent homicide’

LAPD Captain Mike Bland said they were investigating an “apparent homicide”.

Reports said there was a large police presence at the house.

Reiner starred in Sleepless In Seattle and The Wolf Of Wall Street and directed This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally and A Few Good Men.

Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass said Reiner’s death was a devastating loss for the city.

“Rob Reiner’s contributions reverberate throughout American culture and society, and he has improved countless lives through his creative work and advocacy fighting for social and economic justice,” she said.

“An acclaimed actor, director, producer, writer, and engaged political activist, he always used his gifts in service of others.”

‘Creative, funny, and beloved’

Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi said: “It’s hard to think of anyone more remarkable and excellent in every field and endeavour they pursued. Rob was creative, funny, and beloved. And in all of their endeavours, Michelle was his indispensable partner, intellectual resource, and loving wife.

“Personally, Rob cared deeply about people and demonstrated that in his civic activities – whether by supporting the First 5 initiative or fighting against Prop 8 in California. Civically, he was a champion for the First Amendment and the creative rights of artists. And professionally, he was an iconic figure in film who made us laugh, cry and think with the movies he created.”

Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner. Pic: AP
Image:
Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner. Pic: AP

Actress Kathy Bates told NBC News: “I’m horrified hearing this terrible news. Absolutely devastated. I loved Rob. He was brilliant and kind, a man who made films of every genre to challenge himself as an artist. He also fought courageously for his political beliefs. He changed the course of my life. Michelle was a gifted photographer. She shot my beautiful photos for the Misery campaign. My heart breaks for them both. My thoughts are with their family.”

Reiner was married to Michele Singer Reiner since 1989, after they met while he was directing When Harry Met Sally. They have three children together.

Michele used to work as a photographer and took the photo of Donald Trump that appears on the cover of his book Trump: The Art Of The Deal.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

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